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The president of the South Korea Bishops Conference, Peter Kang, held a press conference to express the deep concern of all the Catholic bishops of the country about the Four Rivers Project.
A judge in the U.S. had invalidated seven patents related to the BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes which are associated with breast cancer in women. Patenting life is wrong. As in the case of slavery, there no good form of patenting. Other mechanisms must be devised to compensate people for the time, energy and money they have invested in researching a particular product.
That creatures like ants and bees are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the colony seems to defy Darwin’s theory of the survival of the fittest, UK researchers noted in a recent paper on the genetics of altruism. “Altruism reduces the reproductive process of the altruist – so why is it not weeded out by natural selection?”
Every 20 seconds, a child dies from a water-related disease – 1.8 million children younger than five years, each year. This alarming figure is from a new report by the UN Environment Program (UNEP), which says millions of tons of solid waste are being flushed into water systems every day, spreading disease.
The countries that found bailout money to save financial institutions in the economic crisis should also have resources for helping the poor, stated Archbishop Migliore, the Holy See’s permanent observer at the U.N. offices in New York. The prelate noted that the “devastating impact of the recent financial crisis on the world’s most vulnerable populations” is “a concern shared by governments and citizens all over the world.” And added: “The dark shadow of this crisis is likely to frustrate efforts made so far to help reduce poverty and only add to the skyrocketing numbers living in extreme poverty.”
The Bishops of South Africa have declared Sunday, June 13, “World Cup Sunday.” This date has been chosen as it coincides with the beginning of the World Cup and the conclusion of the Year for Priests. “The World Cup is about South Africa welcoming the world to our home,” affirms the website “Church on the Ball,” promoted by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). “We are also welcoming the world to our church communities. This welcome helps us realize that, despite our nationalities and our teams, we’re all one people of God.”
The Synod of the Catholic Church for the Middle East concerns Arab and non-Arab countries that spread over a vast geographical area from Egypt to Turkey, from Iran to Israel and right through to the Gulf, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Cyprus. It includes, directly or indirectly, 14 million Christians in a population of 330 million inhabitants, among whom we find Arabs, Turks, Iranians, Greeks and Jews. This synod will focus on this very complex and diverse situation. It’s true that, in these last years, we have seen a Synod for Lebanon and another for the Holy Land. One might feel entitled then to pose the following question: “Instead of so ambitious a synod for the entire Middle East, why not organize a special synod for each of those countries that has not yet had one? Why should Lebanon and the Holy Land redo the same work?” The answer lies in the fact that the number and complexity of problems and challenges facing the Middle East are too large to be handled by the various single dioceses and churches separately. In addition, our globalized world makes a synod dealing comprehensively with all our common problems under the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff necessary, “cum Petro et sub Petro.” The Synod sets forth two main goals: – Confirm and strengthen Christians in their identity through the Word of God and the Sacraments. – Give new life to the ecclesial communion between the sui iuris Churches so that they might provide an authentic witness of joyful and attractive Christian life. One peculiarity of the Middle East is the large number of sui iuris Eastern Churches that have taken root here: the Melkites, Syrians, Maronites, Copts, Armenians and Chaldeans. These Churches need to live their liturgical and linguistic particularity, on the one hand, and a greater communion among themselves, on the other. Currently, this communion leaves something to be desired. They also need pastoral and liturgical renewal. The Latin Church went through this change at the Second Vatican Council, which revolutionized its liturgy and ecclesiology and gave it a new openness to the world. The Eastern Churches are in need of a similar revolution so that they might be able to adapt and modernize and thus better meet the needs of their congregations today. The geopolitical situation Turkey. This country has 72 million inhabitants (source: wikipedia), with a Muslim majority. Christians number 100,000, slightly more than 1 per thousand. Turkey is a secular country, separating state and religion (Islam). It is seeking to give a good impression to gain entry into the European Community. To Turkey’s credit, you could cite the secularization introduced by Ataturk in 1924; on the negative side, we must cite the Armenian genocide, for which Turkey refuses to take responsibility and the partition of the island of Cyprus between Turks and Greeks, which is also its responsibility. Iran. In this country, Shia Islam is dominant in all sectors of society. Seventy-two million are Muslim, while
“Biodiversity,” notes a statement released by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People on the occasion of World Tourism Day (20th of September), “refers to the great wealth of beings that live on Earth, as well as the delicate equilibrium of interdependence and interaction that exists between them and the physical environment that hosts and conditions them. This biodiversity is translated into different ecosystems, of which examples can be found in forests, wetlands, savannah, jungles, deserts, coral reefs, mountains, seas and polar zones.” The message warns: “There are three imminent and grave dangers to them that require an urgent solution: climate change, desertification and the loss of biodiversity. The latter has been developing in recent years at an unprecedented rate. Recent studies indicate that, on a worldwide level, 22% of mammals, 31% of amphibians, 13.6% of bird life and 27% of reefs are threatened or in danger of extinction.” “There are numerous areas of human activity that largely contribute to these changes, and one of them is, without a doubt, tourism, which is among those activities that have experienced great and rapid growth,” the statement adds. And comments: “Tourists must be conscious that their presence in a place is not always positive. With this end, they must be informed of the real benefits that the conservation of biodiversity brings with it, and be educated in methods of sustainable tourism. Likewise, tourist should demand tourist business proposals that truly contribute to the development of the place. In no case, neither the land nor the historical-cultural heritage of the destination should be damaged in favor of the tourist, adapting itself to their tastes and desires. A major effort, in a special way the pastoral care of tourism, that must be realized is the education in contemplation to help tourists have the ability to discover the sign of God in the great wealth of biodiversity.” The international community has been seriously concerned with this problem. On several occasions, governments and leaders have made statements on the matter. The Church joins theirs, in accordance with her role, starting from the conviction that she has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must, above all, protect mankind from self-destruction. Without entering into the question of concrete technical solutions that would go beyond her competency, the Church concerns herself with drawing attention to the relationship between the Creator, the human being and creation. Church teaching reiterates insistently the responsibility of the human being in the preservation of an integral and healthy environment for all, from the conviction that the “care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity. It is a matter of a common and universal duty, that of respecting a common good.” Conversely, the tourist sector must “conceive, develop and conduct their businesses minimizing negative effects on, and positively
The Bukas Palad Award was originally named after Fr. Manuel Peypoch, a Jesuit who taught at the Ateneo de Manila and distinguished himself in serving the Jesuit Order, the Church and society in the areas of education and culture, in social and human development concerns. The Award was first given, in 1963, to Msgr. José Jovellanos. It was renamed BUKAS PALAD AWARD to “capture the Ignatian spirit of “generosity” and to give recognition to the unconditional, dedicated service of the Religious in Christ’s Kingdom. Motivated by Gospel values, [the awardee’s] “notable and invaluable contribution is an unmistakable evidence beyond the ordinary of an understanding of the prophetic role of the Church in today’s world and giving tangible proofs of this in the service given to his/her fellowmen, especially the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the sick, the suffering – in faith, justice and love.” The award to Fr. Sebastiano is in recognition of his founding of the Silsilah Dialogue Movement “which helped plant the seeds of interreligious dialogue in the Philippines, particularly, in Mindanao, and nurturing and spreading them through leadership roles in the interreligious dialogue thrusts of Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission (PIME) and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).” In his acceptance speech, Fr. Sebastiano expressed his deep gratitude to the Ateneo for the award and he said: “It is not just an honor but a responsibility to fulfill.” He added he shares the award with every Christian and Muslim in Mindanao who are committed to the mission of dialogue and peace. Further, he said: “Many are not ready for peace… peace must be sincere. In the deeper part of the conscience of each person, there is goodness. In dialogue, we have to reach that level. It is like a soil; you allow putting some elements just for the seed to grow. This is a movement, not an NGO in the usual sense; it is a movement and we want to stress this point. Thanks be to God that there are people entering in this spirit.” Fr. Sebastiano is a native of Sicily, Italy. He was assigned to the Philippines in 1977. He founded the Silsilah Dialogue Movement in 1984. The Movement marked its 25th anniversary in May, 2009. Over the 26 years of its existence, Silsilah has focused its efforts and resources on the promotion of dialogue, to bring people to a greater awareness of and faithfulness to what is taught in their respective religions. Because Christians and Muslims are the two dominant groups in this part of the country, Silsilah focuses on the promotion of dialogue between these two groups – in the hope that the understanding born of dialogue will bring out the fruit of peace in the region.
He visited Rome and told Vatican Radio workers: “We need the voice of Christians in the Holy Land. […] We need to give a voice to the Holy Land Christians.” And added: “There are many radio and television stations in the region, but we do not have any one of them.” Father Raed Sahlieh hopes that the Christian radio station in the Holy Land, which will be launched in collaboration with Vatican Radio, will be up and running by Christmas Eve. “It will be a Christian voice, but it certainly will be a different kind of voice: a voice for peace and hope, dialogue and reconciliation,” the priest affirmed. He continued: “We will be open to everyone and to all the churches in the Holy Land. We will give space and time for news and celebrations of various churches and we will be open also to other religions: Judaism, Islam.” Fr. Sahlieh says: “We will try to be a bridge, because a Christian who is not a bridge, is not a real Christian.”
